The Silent Chapter
by One-Sick-Dude
Summary: This Short story follows the summoning of onxyia and four members of a guild, under taking a perilous quest, to recover and hear, the silent chapter. Reviews Please! :
1. The Horde Summon Evil

**The Silent Chapter**

Night set around Stormwind City, Goldshire was lost from view, as dusk deepened the gates were closed, and a guard was set to watch, inside, lights sprang up from houses and streets as the street lighters went and ignited the oil lamps in the various streets, people were settling down to a nice quiet night, and some well sounded sleep.

However tonight was not to be a normal night, only a few noticed the change in the atmosphere, suddenly as if by magic, a huge orange glow came from the direction of Goldshire, a mixture of orange, red and yellow, followed by a loud roar of flames, as the startled guards watched and wondered a man came running into sight, he looked very worn, his clothes were torn and there was a lot of blood upon him, as he came running up the guards shouted to open the gates for him, but as they did, the man shouted something.

"HORDE!" he gasped "CLOSE THE GATES, THEY ARE COMING"

The man collapsed onto the ground, the guards saw three black tipped arrows in his back, that was a sign of Orc Hunters, the guards began to close the gates, for they knew that the Horde would make their way up to Stormwind, as the gates were closing a bell in a tower on the gate rang, the noise travelled all around Stormwind, citizens came running out of their houses and headed for the secret passage into the mountains behind the city, while the guards that were off duty quickly got ready and headed to the main gate.

While the guards at the gate waited for their backup, they could begin to hear the sound of heavily armoured feet, light footfalls of paws, jeering and sneering, roars and howls, until after what seemed a lifetime they came into view, there were the Orc Hunters at the front, bigger than men, and more broad, wielding different types of bows, all with an arrow in place, and their pets by their side, and as more of the army came into view, they saw Tauren, Undead, Trolls and Blood elves, all with swords, spears, axes and hammers of various shapes and sizes. There were Warriors and Shamans, Hunters and Warlocks and Mages and Druids, all lined up outside Stormwind's main gate.

Then one particularly big and horrible Orc, who few knew as Ma'thill, came striding up to the front, past the Orc Hunters who had now pulled their arrows back in their bows, and a good ten feet away from the gate, he looked up at the guards, and bared his fangs at them, unsheathed his sword, and without warning lifted it up in the air, and with one swift movement he swung it down towards the ground, as the tip of his Fellblade hit the ground, all the Orc Hunters roared and in one moment, there were at least a hundred black tipped arrows flying through the air towards the frightened and bewildered guards on the battlements of the gate, the arrows fell among the guards, most found a mark, there was screaming and shouting, the Orcs jeered, at another sign for Ma'thill the Tauren Warriors moved forward, they had thick dragon scale armour and big shields, however they abandoned these, and picked up the biggest logs they could find, some were nearly the size of tree trunks, they began to tie ropes around the trunks, and held them like battering rams, a cry suddenly came from inside the gate,

"Brace the gate!" shouted the voice, the Tauren moved up to the gate, at least five of them to each ram, there was at least 5 rams touching the gate at the same time, then at an order from Ma'thill they heaved them back, and for a breathless moment, everything went perfectly still, the air seemed to stop moving, and the wind blew no more, then the rams, swung forward all at once, a great shuddering bang went through the entire of Stormwind, the ground around the gate shuddered and cracked but the gate however stood perfectly still and strong, thrice more the Tauren Warriors struck the gate and thrice more they were denied entry, not even a crack appeared, the gates were made of Mithril, the hardest and lightest metal substance in the entire world.

Ma'thill looked livid, he wanted blood and battle, but he had not become a commander for no reason, he had faced Mithril gates before and knew the thing that could break it, he signalled for the Tauren Warriors to move back, as they did, a group of no more than five Undead Warlocks came from the back, they walked to five feet away from the gate, they stood in a circle in front of it, as they did they were chanting a sort of incantation, suddenly a deep red circle appeared upon the ground inside the circle, it began to revolve, slowly at first but gradually getting faster and faster, until it was a blur, the middle of the circle tuned the deepest black, a pit into the unknown depths of hell, an ear splitting roar filled the city and the forest around it, something appeared in the blackness, a small dragon, it was revolving as fast as the red circle it was barely the size of a child, it's scales were a burnt blood red, and its horns down its back were like razor blades, it shot out of the abyss and hovered twenty feet above the Warlocks, revolving slowly, as it did it grew in size, it became bigger and bigger, until it stopped revolving, and spread it's wings out, it's wingspan was at least fifty feet, at slowly descended to a patch by the road, to the left of the warlocks, it landed, put it's wings down by it's sides and bowed it's head as if asleep, the Horde were wary about the dragon, no one made any sound, everything was breathless, then suddenly a rumble came from the dragon, it was speaking to Ma'thill.

"Ma'thill, why do you awaken Onyxia?" said the dragon opening its eyes and revealing fire red eyes with slits for pupils, "Why do you disturb the Dragon Queen from her slumber" her voice sounded angry and wrathful, smoke issued from her nostrils which flared as she spoke, she slowly turned her head towards the Undead Warlocks, growled and in a flash of red, engulfed them in flames, they screamed and writhed in pain, but no one helped them, after they had finished screaming, Onyxia continued to speak "Ma'thill, I ask you once more, for my patience is wearing thin, why did you awaken me here?".


	2. The Fall Of Stormwind

**The Fall Of Stormwind City**

As the Warlocks ashes blew away in the wind of Onyxia's wrath, Ma'thill stared into those cruel red slits of eyes, the nostrils flared dangerously as smoke slowly rose out of them, Ma'thill could clearly understand the common tongue but couldn't speak it, he signalled for another Orc to come forward, he slowly approached Ma'thill his eyes upon the large dark red dragon, Ma'thill spoke in Orcish a deep and throaty language, when he had finished, the translator turned to Onyxia and spoke.

"Ma'thill asks how you know his name" said the Orc, a slight trace of fear in his voice. Onyxia laughed under her breath, turned to the Orc with a slight smile.

"Onyxia was not dead, I was merely asleep, but much has been told to me by my dragon sons and daughters" she looked at Ma'thill, "and they have told me that you are trying to destroy the alliance, they also said that you thought your plans of war were moving along swiftly and unhindered" she continued to smile, it wasn't a warm smile, it was a cold and jeering smile, Ma'thill looked taken aback, and in answer talked again to the Orc, after a few seconds, the Orc turned once again to Onyxia and said.

"Ma'thill said that the reason he has awoken you here is because he needs your help, he will promise you free reign over these lands and north up to Ironforge. This gate is made of Mithril and is impenetrable, but you could break them, and we could attack the city, any amount of riches will be yours."

At this Onyxia began to look very serious, her smiled dropped, and she was very thoughtful, dragons above all else love gold and riches, most dragons would guard the horde of gold and jewels most jealously, and Onyxia was no different, when she heard about gold and riches she suddenly became more co-operative to Ma'thill, as Onyxia's shrewd mind went over all the gold that could be inside the city vaults, Ma'thill began to smirk, he knew what Onyxia was thinking and he knew that he had said the right thing, after a long pause that seemed like hours, Onyxia turned her head to Ma'thill and spoke, not in the common tongue though but in Orcish.

"_You have my service Ma'thill, however I reserve the right to attack wherever I please and take whatever I want, without argument."_ As she finished there was a distinct growl, as if daring anyone to say otherwise, Ma'thill nodded and turned to address his army.

"_Everybody, this is the moment, after long hard months we are finally here, at Stormwind"_ The Army cheered so loud the floor rumbled slightly _"as many of you have been with me all through these attacks, you will remember the countless men and women we have lost"_ he was good at getting them ready for an attack, because the army were getting more and more angry and restless, ready to charge, _"so I ask you my friends, no my family, to avenge the death of our bothers and sisters!"_ he shouted the last few words, the whole army erupted into screams of rage and chants of war, the war drums echoed through the trees, and the all chanted 'Onyxia' over and over again, she looked around at them, seeming to enjoy the attention, she spread her massive wings to their full, and in a moment she was at least 15 feet above the ground, she looked down upon Stormwind, her face marked by a look of the purest loathing, she came down slightly looked at the gate, took a deep breath and shot a fireball the size of a house right at it, as it stormed through the air, it roared and roared, it hit the gate with a huge bang, and cracked and shattered the stone around it, the gate stood for a second, untouched it seemed, then it slowly tilted and fell backwards with a crash.

No sooner than when the gate hit the floor, than the entire of the horde army charged forward, into Stormwind, and into the guards that were now defending the entrance. There was a noise of sword upon sword, spear upon shield and arrow upon stone, the guards fought wildly to protect the citizens inside the city still, but for every one Orc or Tauren that fell, it seemed as if another two took it's place, the siege began to really get wild, guards ducking left right and centre away from the wild and powerful slashes of Orcs and Tauren alike. Spells flying through the air, the night sky alight with purple and green and gold, the guards were being pushed back, slowly but surely, they were loosing numbers and morale, the Orcs pushed forwards, still raging from the words that Ma'thill had said to them, Maces, Axes, Swords and Spears, all came at the guards, wielded by skilled fighters, just as the remaining guards were starting to loose hope battalion after battalion of archers came and appeared upon the wall behind the guards, and with one swift movement let over a hundred arrows loose on the Horde Army, there was disarray as the arrows fell among the countless Horde, they lost their momentum for one second, and as the archers pulled back their arrows again, Onyxia came, with a fury so immense that nothing would stand in her way, stone and rock cracked and shivered merely at the sound of her roars, the archers didn't stand a chance, she came down upon them and with one blast engulfed them all in flame, the Horde Army, made a final charge at the remaining guards and after a fierce skirmish, the Horde were triumphant in their initial attack.

They rallied on the bridge just outside of the Trade District, the sound of women screaming and children crying could be heard, not all of them had managed to reach the secret passageways and hiding spots, Ma'thill, after calming his troops down began to address them.

"_My friends, we have come this far, we have taken out the guards, and now can freely pillage and plunder this city"_ Came his deep booming voice in Orcish_ "now we must also make these vile humans pay for what they have done to us in the past, all the times they raided into our villages, and slaughtered our families, our friends, our loves, we will avenge their memories today, we will make the humans feel our pain" _a loud roar came from the Army_ "lets us slaughter everyone in this wretched city, and raze it to the ground!"_ The Horde went crazy, shouts, jeers and howls erupted all through the Army, they were bashing swords against their shields, shouts and yells came from the tunnel leading into Stormwind, the citizens were now panicking, the Horde smiled and at a silent sign from Ma'thill, advanced slowly, Onyxia just sat there watching the proceedings, she recognised the fact that Ma'thill was a great and powerful leader and warrior, he could infuse his own men with hatred and he could get them to use that to their advantage, but on the other hand he knew how to scare and bully the enemy, as to make them forget their valour and bravery, after hours and hours, of the Horde ravaging and plundering the once great city, the fumes and stench of the flames spread high and wide, black smoke filled the air, and the screams of women and the crying of children were drowned out by the almighty roars and yells coming from the Army, and as the last citizens of Stormwind were flushed out of their hiding spots, Onyxia chose her moment, she flew high above The Keep, the only part of Stormwind still fully intact, she roared, the loudest and most horrible she had done, and like they were summoned other dragons came, all blood red, none of them as big as Onyxia but they all had the same fiery red eyes, they were her sons and daughters, they all knew exactly what she wanted, they all took very deep breaths, and in an instant, they released giant fireballs, the biggest being Onyxia's, all the fireballs met in mid-air with Onyxia's and they joined with it, until the fireball was nearly as big as the keep itself, it came hurdling down, the roar from the flames nearly unbearable, and then with a tremendous smash, and deafening noise, the fireball struck the Keep, the Keep was engulfed in flames, and it was so hot it could burn and melt the very rock that it was made of, strangled yells came from inside but were cut short, as the guards that remained burnt to death, or suffocated from the fumes, Onyxia looked triumphant she had done what she had wanted to for aeons and aeons, she signalled for her dragonkin to return from whence they came, they all bowed their heads, turned and streaked off through the smoke, after a while she landed next to Ma'thill.

"_Ma'thill, I think you will not need me any longer, however do not tarry here, there will be dwarves from Ironforge coming soon, after they here the news,"_ she said in her Orcish voice _"I thank you for this opportunity, I will not be needing any treasure, you will go far Ma'thill."_ When she finished without hesitation she took off and like her dragonkin, flew through the smoke and disappeared, leaving Ma'thill a little bewildered at what she had said, _'you will go far Ma'thill'_ those words stuck with him for a very long time, after staring at the spot that Onyxia had flown through, he returned his gaze to the now ruined city, and to his Army celebrating somewhat wildly, it took a while for the news to spread, but Stormwind City, had fallen.


	3. The Quest Begins

**The Quest Begins**

The news of Stormwind's fall didn't travel to Ironforge for a very long time, Ironforge only found out when a small group of fellow adventurers walked to Stormwind on business, the Deeprun Tram had been out of service for many weeks now, and it was widely believed that the Gnomes were merely tinkering with it, but when asked, none of the Gnomes would explicitly say what was going on, in truth in the wrath and power of Onyxia, the entrance in the Dwarven district, was in fact blocked, and all the way to the underwater tunnel was debris from the once great city, naturally the Gnomes were trying to move it, but doing a very bad job, the group of adventurers were a strange group, there were two Nightelves, a Dwarf and a Gnome, the Nightelves were tall like the rest of their race, and both female, one was called Sarielle and the other Miteelia, they both looked more or less the same, apart from Sarielle had green hair and Miteelia's was purple.

The Dwarf of the group was a typical Dwarf, long thick beard, broad shoulders and a bald head, finally there was the Gnome, a typical Gnome, very small, and with a pointed wizards hat that belied her height. She was called Sasperela, and the Dwarf went by the name of Gambourne. These particular people, all belonged to the Guild _The Psychotic Warriors_, they had just walked through the Searing Gorge, the Burning Steppes and then through Redridge, they were now happily walking along the road that leads to Stormwind in Elwynn Forest, happily talking amongst themselves, gazing at the countless wild animals who were eyeing them with distrust, the Dwarf was the one speaking at that particular time.

"I don't know why those bloody Gnomes wont tell us anything," he looked at Sasperela as he said this, "I mean bloody things wont even say what's wrong with the tram." There was no answer, Sasperela was happily examining her new wand, it was only a short one at eight inches long, but it looked very strong, and had a slightly sinister red glow about it. "I dunno why you like that blasted thing so much, doesn't look like anything my Axe couldn't handle" he patted his Axe with a smirk, Sasperela still didn't answer, instead as they walked past a wolf which was chasing a deer, and with a wave of her wand Sasperela killed the wolf on the spot. Gambourne looked a little out of phase, but quickly regained himself, "yes but still, my Axe could stop you pretty quickly, and my Armour and Paladin protections would stop that fire." He finished seeming rather pleased with himself.

They were walking past the Eastvale Logging Camp, there was a slight stream of smoke in the direction of Goldshire, taking it for a house or the Blacksmith's they weren't suspicious, they carried on walking and suddenly realised that Gambourne was behind them, quite a distance behind, they stopped and looked around he was rummaging in his bag for something.

"What are you doing?" asked Sarielle, her voice was deeper than human women's and it was a lot sleeker, with a frown on her face.

"I'm looking for something" Said the Dwarf evasively "just something I wanted….to drink." Muttering the last bit, they all turned round again and waited for Gambourne to catch up, he seemed a little put out. "I hope we get to Goldshire soon, what say you lot to a nice cold pint in the pub?" he asked hopefully, they all looked at him.

"'A nice cold pint in the pub?'" asked Sasperela, her voice was quite high pitched and squeaky "is that what you were looking for in your bag, some Ale to drink?"

"So what if I was, I'm allowed a drink every now and then aren't I." He said, his eyes narrowed while looking at Sasperela

"Hm" She sighed, and after a long pause said "Dwarves", both the Night Elves giggled and turned to walk away, closely followed by the Gnome and then Gambourne. The Night Elves pets were both running around the group chasing each other and growling in a playful way, every now and then, one would pounce on the other and pin it down, only to let the other up again and continue with their game. The two pets were both tigers, one was White (Sarielle's) and the other was orange.

Then the two pets stopped suddenly, staring at something in front of them, the group stopped as abruptly gazing almost transfixed at what was in front of them, an old man, with a large cloak and large wide brimmed hat stood in the road. He was dressed entirely in dark red, and as he moved it looked like his robes were made from silk, the brim of his hat covered the entire top of his face, all they could see was his mouth, that was curled in a sort of grin.

A thrill of anticipation surged through their bodies, they could all feel (the hunters more so) that behind this old man's frail exterior was power beyond any of theirs, they waited for what seemed like hours, although in truth it was barely seconds, when in the blink of an eye the old man vanished, there was no visible trace left and even as the hunters went to investigate there was no trace of a footprint.

"Gone" whispered Miteelia "not a trace left, not even a footprint"

"Well what was he then" Asked Gambourne

"He was a Mage of the Order Of Sirias" whispered Sasperela. Ignoring the others dumbfounded looks she carried on "It's an ancient order that was first brought about when Azeroth was created, no one really knows who or what they were when it was first conceived, all anyone knows now is that it is a very small collection of extremely powerful Mages and Warlocks, it's even rumoured that some can bend and shape the course of time." There was silence; the wind could be heard rustling through the leaves on trees and bushes, they could hear a rabbit scurry across the road in front of them, and the sound of a wolf's howl, echoed through the trees.

They were all filled with a deep feeling of distrust and foreboding, they shifted nervously from foot to foot, then with a sigh Sarielle said

"Well, what was a Mage of the Order Of Sirias doing here?" she looked enquiringly at the Gnome, but no answer came, she seemed to be deep in thought, after a while she said very slowly

"Well, as great protectors, they only ever make themselves visible to who they want, if you were to look for a protector they are impossible to find"

"So this Mage" said Gambourne "wanted us to see him, maybe to find him? Why did they show themselves in the past."

"A Mage of the Order Of Sirias only shows himself to those he feels are worthy and powerful enough to perform the task that needs doing, which means something has happened up ahead, and he wants us to" Sasperela faltered "do something about it" they all looked around, they knew something like this was coming, they had already killed countless dragons and giants and other creatures, but they still weren't ready for this, they knew deep down that this quest would be perilous and very possible that some of them wouldn't be coming back.

They walked towards Stormwind, when they got near Goldshire they noticed that the little spiral of smoke they saw earlier wasn't from a house or the Blacksmiths, the buildings of Goldshire were now a smouldering wreck, cinders in fires glowed a menacing dark orange, a strong smell of burnt wood and flesh lingered in the air, as they entered they saw that the town of Goldshire had not only been ransacked and burned, but completely destroyed, they saw the outlines of dead figures on the ground, they saw blood stains upon the walls there were scorch marks on the floor, and holes randomly littering the floor, they began to inspect the now ruined town, as they looked around, they saw hundreds of dead bodies, the bodies of men, guards of Goldshire, their armour was bent and slashed open their swords notched and broken and their shields shattered, they saw women, slashed cruelly as they lay there dead, or as they were pleading for mercy, they saw children too, most face down upon the ground with arrows nearly as big as them lodged in their backs, but all of them had a cold unseeing stare, an accusatory stare.

As the group stood there taking in the horrific scene that was once Goldshire, an old man dressed in dark red robes and wearing a wide brimmed hat, walked up to them behind them, he coughed, clearly to get there attention, the group spun round, there weapons ready.

"Good day to you" said the old man, his voice was deep, but clear, "you will not need such weapons against me, for I am not here to challenge or attack you" at this they lowered their weapons and continued to stare at him, "as you can see, the town of Goldshire has been attacked," he was talking as if he was talking about the weather. But before he could speak, Gambourne had blurted out.

"Who _are _you?" he asked, the old man merely smiled, and let out a small chuckle,

"I am no one, and every one, but the question isn't who I am, it's who are you?" he said mysteriously, they all stopped for a moment, Sarielle opened her mouth to say her name but the old man, who had stepped forward and was now more visible, seemed to guess what she was going to say "Names are but labels, I for instance am nameless, I asked who you _are_ not what your name is, but as it goes I know the names of all of your party, you my fair elves go by the names of Sarielle" he inclined his head to her "and Miteelia" he also inclined his head in turn to her as well, "this fellow mage is Sasperela and this fine Paladin is Gambourne" he inclined his head to both of them in turn as he said their names.

The group stood there, apparently unable to speak due to the fact that this man knew all of their names without ever having spoken to them.

"Seeing as I already know all of your names, I think, for the purpose of our discussions together and if you mention me again, you can call me Medion, 'tis but one of my names in the north." He smiled again and they saw his whole face this time, he had small white eyebrows, and beneath them cold brown eyes, but in them there wasn't any trace of malice or anger, but a look of deep satisfaction. "Yes" he muttered audibly, inspecting the group "I knew that you were the group that must do this task for me, I have been watching you from afar, and have defiantly chosen rightly."

"You've been spying on us?" asked Gambourne, apparently regaining his voice and raising his axe threateningly, how long had he been watching them? Since they got into the forest, or for much longer? This thought echoed through them, they looked worried, Medion look pleased.

"Do not worry" he said "I have not been watching you for a long time, just when you came out of the Burning Steppes." It was as if he had read their minds, there was no way that he could have known what they were all thinking. They began to become very wary, their weapons were slowly edging to the ready position, Medion simply waves his hand in dismissal, he strode past them, to where the road leads off to Stormwind, and stopped facing the city, the group followed him, and as they saw the ruined gates of Stormwind, felt horrified, the gates that were once magnificent and large, now lay as rubble in their path, and beyond the wreckage that was the gate, lay the now barely recognizable city, after the attack of Onyxia.

The bewildered group lost all animosity to Medion in a second.

"What happened here?" whispered Miteelia, horror-struck "who did this?"

"The Horde attacked this once fair city, they were led by a particularly ferocious and violent Orc called Ma'thill," he sighed, "there they summoned a Dragon that none have ever matched, and many have lost their lives to, the Dragon Queen-"

"Onyxia!" said Sasperela, her voice trembled, Onyxia was, in legend, the most evil and foul Dragon to ever have disgraced this earth, tales of her violence and evil had spread far and wide, most regarded it all as legend, and old wives tales, but at her height she and her dragon sons and daughters attacked at will, looting and plundering every city and town they attacked, until one day a band of very powerful Warlocks (believed to be members of the Order Of Sirias) had locked Onyxia away in a prison of immense magical power, in the hope that no one would learn their secrets on how to break the spell that keeps her locked in her prison, the Warlocks had made a Journal of their entire journey on their finding of their secrets and they had called it The Silent Chapter.


	4. The Disappearance Of Lady Prestor

**Chapter 4**

**Onyxia's Beginning.**

"The story of Onyxia and her brood is a strange one, full of legend and myth" Said Sasparela quietly "legend has it that sometime just after the fall of the Burning Legion, an extremely powerful warlock, who's name is never mentioned in legends, had lost all of his work at the hands of the coalition, years and years of work and research into shape shifting and magical power, lost in an instant, he knew the basic ideas and theorems, but had lost all of the actual research he had collected by his experiments." she looked around, as if imagining the horrible experiments, looking slightly uncomfortable she continued, "what he would do is after the raids conducted by the Burning Legion, he would take what prisoners were left, and cast enchantments on them, and he developed potions and elixirs, the kinds that would induce a radical physical change from the original form, many of his subjects died from the research, but it is widely believed he had nearly found and way to grant the _patient _shape shifting, much like that of a druids, but before he could test everything properly, the Burning Legion had been defeated and he was forced to flee."

"Indeed" Medion suddenly burst in, he walked to where the gnome was standing and turned to face the others, "He was a very gifted and powerful warlock, he was also a former member of my Order, after he fell from grace with, even then, experiments of a...shall we say, less moral nature than usual, he disappeared, wandered the wastes until we think he was picked up by the demons of the Burning Legion, there he showed great skill, and was allowed to practice his twisted magic and corrupt skill, you are right" he said looking at Sasparela " he did flee after the Burning Legion was defeated, but not into hiding, he sought a way to research his old work, for he had so nearly had it, but he needed someone of immense physical and mental strength, for he could only take one subject every so often, for the Alliance and Horde were both still on the lookout for any trace of the Burning Legion still, he lay low, and scouted for the perfect subject." Medion sighed and shook his head slightly, questions burst into the minds of the others, _did he find someone? What happened to him as well?_

As the four companions glanced at each other, the question finally burst from Gambourne's lips.

"But what happened to him? Did he do it?"

Medion looked at the group, sighed and said what they feared.

"Yes he succeeded, but let me show you, I meddled with the laws of time and space to gather this information, and nearly perished in the attempt" Before the group had even begun to ask what he was talking about, he began muttering an incantation, suddenly, the ruins of Stormwind vanished, and before them was a large and impressive manor house, light split out of the open door, it was dusk, and it seemed a small group of people were leaving the house, laughing and talking, perfectly at ease, not one of the seemed to notice the five people standing outside the door.

"Are we in a sort of memory?" Sasparela asked Medion

"Yes sort of, it was the memory I could bring forth from the past of the Warlock and firstly who he managed to capture, although the story will unfold before your very eyes today, now pay attention." Recognising the dismissal Sasparela turned to watch the group of people at the door, they seemed to be saying their farewells, a women, tall and proud stood in the doorway, she wore an expensive dress of crimson silk, and her long dark hair fell down to her shoulders, the women must have been a Human Noble of some type, the group of people walked on to the end of the lane, still laughing and singing, it seemed however that a man had held back at the door, talking to the women, his companions noticed and called to him, waiting at the end of the lane, he waved them down, shouting that he would be there in a minute, he turned back to the women.

"I apologize my love, but." he grimaced "duty calls" he finished with a slightly mischievous grin. The woman was also smiling, a warm smile.

"Do not worry, I know that the duty to the bottom of a tankard of ale is important for you, go now, be with your companions, I shall see you when you return home" she kissed him, they embraced, when they broke apart, the women hesitated, it seemed some feeling of danger and mistrust had fallen upon her, she looked into his eyes, the eyes of her childhood sweetheart, and with a tenderness so sincere said "I love you Darian"

"I love you to Katrina" replied the man, they embraced again, and then they broke apart and he hurried off to his friends, she watched the group walk around the corner, and out of sight.

"Lady Katrina Prestor was the wife of Lord Darian Prestor, Lord of the Arathi Highlands, a Noble and wise Lord, always putting the needs of his people way above the needs of himself, a truly selfless man in every respect" Medion informed them as the image melted before their eyes, it changed into the same house, it looked like it was still the same evening, the windows shone with a golden light and smoke furled from the chimney, an old man, hobbled up the lane towards the door of the impressive manor house the group had seen in the last vision, the man wore a very long travelling cloak, it was weather stained, as if he had done many days worth of travelling, he leaned heavily on a staff "of course that was also Lady Prestor's weakness."

The old man had reached the door, the group moved closer, they could see that he carried many trinkets under his robes, which were dirty and stained, he had a weathered face, which showed wisdom and power, many lines of care were etched into his forehead, and in his eyes a faint light seemed to shine, he reached the door, and reached for the brass knocker, _knock, knock, knock_, he waited.

A moment later and Lady Prestor was framed in the doorway, a candle in one hand, her dark hair ruffled by the breeze slightly, a look of surprise and concern at the old man's condition, now the group was closer they could see that Lady Prestor was a very fair woman, and not a day over 25 they would have guessed, the youthful fire still in her eyes, her movements graceful and elegant.

"Good Even' my good sir, and how can a humble Lady of the house serve you tonight?"

"Please, I have been travelling for days, I have had very little rest, and have been chased by wolves" he coughed, he seemed to have a little trouble breathing, wheezing as he did, "Please fair maiden, a drink and a bite would be kindly received, I have travelling long" The group expected the women to waver, they expected her to say that the inn would be a better place, but she surprised them all.

"Come in, come in," genuine concern in her voice "I have a pitcher of fresh milk, and bread and cheese" she stepped back to invite the old man in, and as he went in the group proceeded to follow, they found themselves in a big living area, there was a table set up in the corner section and around the big fireplace, where a roaring fire was merrily burning, there were an assortment of chairs and cushions, obviously she had been entertaining quite recently. "My husband will be back soon, do you have anywhere to stay for the night?" she led him to the chairs by the fire, while asking him.

"No not yet my dear lady, but I wont trespass upon your hospitality for very long." said the old man, taking off his cloak and handing it to her then sitting in the seat that Lady Prestor was indicating to, "If its agreeable with you, I shall just rest for a bit and be back on my journey."

"As you wish" said Lady Prestor, taking his cloak to the hanger by the door, and bustling about the kitchen, the group took this chance to actually look around the house, on the walls were paintings of various places and people, they recognized the one above the fireplace as both the Lord and Lady, Lady Prestor was sat on a chair and Lord Prestor was stood behind her, they both wore expressions of great happiness. Just to the right of the door there was a shield and a long sword, the shield looked like it had seen battle, there were scratches down the face, and it was notched on the sides, the blade however looked nearly new, it was obvious that Darian Prestor was a man of war, and knew how to look after his equipment,a voice made them look around.

"There you go, please take your time, I shall be upstairs, I shall return momentarily." Lady Prestor said, handing a wooden tray with milk, cheese bread and some butter, to the old man, with a swift smile after he began eating, she swept upstairs.

After a couple of minutes, the old man looked around himself, as if to check that he was alone, Lady Prestor could be heard upstairs busying herself with the household tasks, the old man stood up, all age seemed to be falling from his limbs, he straightened out, he must have been just shy of 6 feet tall, a power seemed to radiate from him, his face was smooth and clean, he had long hair, and a full beard, with striking blue eyes, eyes which held power and malice, he closed his eyes and began muttering, and incantation of sorts, a shimmering barrier appeared over the doors and windows, blocking any exit, they heard Lady Prestor coming down the stairs, she reached the bottom and looked at the new man stood by the fire, muttering, she seemed to understand straight away that he was saying an incantation, there was a look of panic in her face, and then it was gone, replaced by a look of determination, she ran, ran towards the door, saw that it was barred and turned to face the man, who had now stopped chanting and seemed ready to address her.

"Hello Katrina Prestor, I have watched for a very long time, to make sure that you are the right" he hesitated ".... Candidate" he grinned, like a sharks grin, showing his teeth, it was more a leer than a grin, Lady Prestor just stood there, she seemed to have lost the power of speech, then suddenly.

"What do you mean? Candidate for what?" she asked

"Why for my experiments of course, I needed someone who was strong of will, you certainly seem to fit the bill." he was still leering at her, edging ever closer now.

"What experiments? What are you going to do to me?"

"Oh don't worry dear" he grinned "you'll find out soon enough" he took another step closer, they were now only 6 feet or so apart, Lady Prestor looked tense, ready for anything, the man seemed to examine her for a second, his head tilted to one side slightly, he made a move towards her, and in an instant she had seized the sword of the wall next to her, she had it pointed at him, and she held it steady, it had seemed that she had been trained with a blade.

"Don't come any closer." she said, slight panic in her voice now

"Or?" the man enquired "You'll attack me, I think not my dear lady" and as he said that his raised his hand toward the sword, now shaking slightly, and in an instant it was blazing hot, Lady Prestor dropped it and gasped in pain and surprise, hand still raised, he made a swift movement, like a flick with his fingers and ropes appeared from nowhere, and bound Lady Prestor, she couldn't move, as he came closer, she was now shaking in full, terrified of what was going to happen, he reached out, touched her forehead with his index and ring fingers, she fell into him, unconscious, he lifted her up, put her over his shoulder, lifted the enchantment of the door, and strode off into the dark.

When Lady Prestor awoke, lights were all around her, a mass of blurred light, that hurt her eyes like daggers, she tried to stir, but found that any movement was impossible, however she couldn't feel any ropes binding her to what she supposed as a table, she began to panic in earnest, as her eyes became accustomed to the lights she noticed she was in a large stone room, many tables were lined up against all the walls, and one wall was completely obscured by bookshelves, at least 12 feet high, many faded leather volumes stood on the shelves, their peeling letters too small to read from where she was bound. The tables around the other walls were laden with alchemy equipment, scrolls and various other magical research equipment, she wondered what she was doing here and why the strange man had chosen to take her.

"Ah I see your awake once more my dear" Said a sneering voice from the corner behind her. "good, now I can begin"

"Begin what?" Shouted Lady Prestor "What are you planing to do with me?"

"Why spoil the surprise so early?" said the man, as he walked into her field of view, grinning slightly he continued "oh were in for a lot of fun, you an I my dear" he walked forwards, an extremely old and beaten leather covered book open in his right hand, "Lots of fun" he tapped her on the forehead again, and she knew no more.


End file.
